Dragon Master Ash!
by Vollar Chetowa
Summary: 7 year old Ash saves a Dragon Master on a mission, after saving him and his Pokémon Ash decides to follow in his footsteps but be stronger! This is my take on Ash choosing one type to train and circumstances giving him his start. Smarter!Ash Pairing undecided.
1. Chapter 1 Saving A Master!

The sun was shining brightly through the bedroom window of Ash Ketchum, the very first aspiring dragon master of Kanto. Seeing as the closest Dragon type Pokémon are miles away from the peaceful town of Pallet, you can call it an unusual path to follow. As he was getting ready for the most important day in his life, Ash's thoughts took him back to that fateful day when he was shown his path in life.

* * *

(Flashback)

A young boy of seven was walking through the forest near his home in Pallet Town, hoping to get his first glance at a wild Pokémon. He was thinking back to the way Gary Oak, grandson of the world famous Pokémon professor Samuel Oak; was showing off with his numerous tales of seeing so many wild Pokémon during his latest trip to the Celadon radio station with his Grandpa. Not only was he showing off, but the way he was mocking Ash for being the only person in Pallet town to not see a wild Pokémon had the future Pokémon master of the world fuming.

'I'll show him! I'll see lots of wild Pokémon, and my first one will be a legendary.' Thought Ash as he went through some brambles

'And when I do I'll…' Ash's thoughts were interrupted by some scuffling sounds coming from further ahead.

'That must be a Pokémon' he thought as he ran through the forest, closer to the sounds. The sounds got louder and louder until Ash heard the scuffling change to a deep voice speaking rather tiredly.

"You can do it Haxorus! Try steel claw again to climb out of this hole" This was followed by A gruff but weak sound of "Hax" Followed by a sound of something hard digging into ground. However, the only follow up sound was of something heavy falling to the ground.

Ash broke through the brambles to a clearing, immediately his vision was met with a lot of metal bear traps that were no doubt preciously covered by a lot of leaves that were now displaced. On the opposite edge of the clearing was a large hole.

Ash was about to run to the whole when the sun reflected into his eye off one of the bear traps still open. Thinking on the spot, Ash gathered as many heavy sticks and stones he could gather from around him and started throwing them at the traps. Once all the traps had been activated Ash picked up the largest of the sticks and cleared a path ahead of him towards the hole.

Ash cautiously peered over the edge of the hole, what he saw stunned him to say the least, he was frozen on the spot. There was a tall man with white hair and white beard shaped as a jaw lying down with a lot of blood pooling under a leg that seemed to be very badly injured, no doubt by one of the bear traps, said trap was only a yard away from the man with blood over its blades.

What had Ash frozen though, was the large green Pokémon slumped on the ground. It was mostly yellow-green in colour with its face, chest, stomach and legs being black. It had its eyes shut at the moment so Ash couldn't see its colour. What Ash could not miss though was the very large red blades on either side of its check. The Pokémon had bruised and a few red gashes in its hide.

A groan coming from the man had Ash come out of its stupor. Seeing the condition of the two beings had Ash thinking of a plan to help them.

"Excuse me sir! Can you hear me?" Ash shouted down to the man that was barely conscious. Another grunt was followed by the man looking up for the first time. Eyes a shade darker than his hair met Ash's own chocolaty brown. Looking at the pain in the man's eyes made Ash's own shine with determination.

"I will help you get out of the pit, give me a minute" the man grunted in reply, in too much pain to talk any more. Ash Hurried back through the path he made on his way to the pit, he rushed to a large tree; he could see it was covered in a lot of heavy vines. Ash pulled down at a vine within reach, the vine was sturdy beneath his grip and he kept pulling. Eventually he had enough vine, he picked up a sharp rock and cut the vine.

Carrying the large bundle back to the clearing Ash tied it around the nearest tree tightly. He then cleared more of the traps in the clearing using the branch from earlier, with the bundle of vine held loosely in his hand he made his way of to the pit. Once there he slowly lowered the vines down, pulled on the vine once to make sure it was tied properly and lowered himself down into the pit slowly.

Once in he immediately tied the vine several times around the barely conscious man's torso, then looked over at the Pokémon. There was no way he could get that giant out of the pit himself. He spotted a red glint next to the man, he realised it must be the giant's poke ball. He wasted no time in picking it up and clicking the button, immediately the Pokémon turned to red energy and was sucked into the ball, he pressed another button shrinking the ball and placed it in his pocket.

Holding on to the vine he climbed back out of the pit, on his way up he could see a lot of gashes across the side of the pit and realised it must be from that large Pokémon trying to get out. Once on the surface Ash began pulling on the sturdy vine. It was a long and arduous task, for a while there Ash doubted he could go on, then remembering the injuries on the man and his Pokémon steeled Ash's resolves and he kept pulling. Eventually the man was over the edge.

Ash collapsed on the ground and took a few deep breaths, sweat pouring down his face and into the dirt. After a short respite, he picked himself off the ground and quick as he could, he made a makeshift stretcher using the vine and branches from earlier. Twenty minutes later he was dragging one end of the stretcher back towards Pallet Town, trying to be as careful as he could to not hurt the man.

It took Ash over an hour to get back to town, not surprising seeing as he was dragging more than double his bodyweight along with him. Soon though he could make out the hilltop of Professor Oak's Ranch, seeing this invigorated the young hero as he picked up his speed. As soon he was within the boundaries of Oak Ranch he yelled out for help.

"PROFESSOR OAK! HELP!" yelled Ash over and over again, he knew the old man would either hear him or get his message from one of many trained Pokémon within the ranch. Eventually he could hear the beating of wings and he looked up. There was professor Oak, sitting astride his magnificent Dragonite.

* * *

Samuel Oak was working on a poem for his next radio broadcast in Celadon when he heard the familiar growled shouts of his oldest companion. These shouts however were in distress. Quick as he could he dashed out the back door of his lab to see his large yellow friend waiting for him. Dragonite crouched down as soon as he saw his trainer and signalled him to get on. Years of experience and friendship taught the old professor not to question this side of his usually jovial and carefree Dragonite. He hopped on.

Professor Oak immediately spotted the cause of Dragonite's distress when the large Dragon Pokémon speeded towards the western boundary of the ranch; down below was a young boy the old professor immediately recognised as Ash, one of his brightest students. The disturbing part for the professor is he seemed to be dragging a badly injured person behind him.

As soon as Dragonite landed Ash dropped to his knees, knowing the badly injured man and his Pokémon would be taken care of. He started to explain what he knew to his mentor in whatever breath he could spare.

"Professor… Man… In pit… bear traps… helped" that's as far as Ash got before exhaustion took over him. Oak grabbed the young boy in his arms before he could fall as he lost consciousness and placed him on the ground gently. He then rushed over to the wounded man and recognised him immediately.

"Drayden…" Oak whispered under his breath before he quickly picked him up in a fireman's lift and placed him gently across Dragonite's back, he repeated the process with Ash and got on Dragonite's back himself. Dragonite kicked off the ground using his powerful legs, the extra weight slowed him down but he eventually got back to the lab.

Soon the man now identified as Drayden and Ash were lying in separate beds in the hospital section of Oak's lab. He already realised Ash was just really exhausted from whatever he had to do to save Drayden and was now just sleeping. He realised he has to call Ash's mother, Delia and let her know where her son is. But first, He has to treat Drayden.

After looking over the man, professor Oak noticed some bruising around his shoulders, back and chest which will heal in time. However the injured leg will need a heavy stitching and bandages, luckily the bone did not break. Also, he needed some blood replenishment. A few hours later and professor Oak deemed Drayden to be fixed and healing. After a quick call to Delia he made a couple of coffee's and got prepared to wait for Ash to wake, no doubt it would be him first.

* * *

Ash woke from his sleep and could feel his head throbbing something heavy. He stopped his movements however when he remembered what he was doing before he fell asleep. His eyes shot open and he came face to face with eyes identical to his but surrounded the face of his mother.

"Good morning Ash! I'm so proud of you son" were the first words out of his mom's mouth before he was engulfed in a tight embrace.

"Ugh… Mom I can't breathe" came Ash's rasping breath.

"Oh sorry honey" his mom replied before letting go, as soon as Ash could breathe again he asked hurriedly "Is that man okay?"

"Yes he is now, Professor Oak says he's managed to fix him up and he's just sleeping now" reassured his mom.

"That's great!" Ash replied exuberantly before he spotted he was in his pyjamas; he looked over to his clothes on the bedside stand and noticed the small bulge in his pants pocket.

Ash took the poke ball out of his belt, "Mom, I have to give this to professor Oak, it has the man's Pokémon in it and it's badly hurt" Ash explained before dashing off to find the professor.

"Ah, Ash you're awake, how are you feeling my boy?" asked the professor exuberantly.

"I'm good professor, but you should take a look at this Pokémon it was injured in the pit along with the man" Ash said as he handed the poke ball to professor Oak.

"Hmm it must be…" Professor Oak trailed off in his own thoughts as he took the ball to the lab medical facility.

As the professor was dealing with the Pokémon Ash went out for some fresh air, his thoughts with the injured Pokémon.

'I wonder what that Pokémon was, I've studied about Pokémon hard for two years now but I still couldn't recognise it. I'm sure I would remember such a powerful one if I had seen it before… no matter, when I'll talk to the man when he's healed and maybe he has others the same' Ash thought, excited of the prospect of seeing more rare Pokémon he's not seen before.

As Ash was sat outside the lab daydreaming of seeing rare Pokémon, an injured man was rousing from sleep, Professor Oak rushed to his side when he realised this.

"Hello Drayden, I must say I didn't expect to be seeing you after so long in quite this way" chuckled the old professor.

"Samuel" acknowledged a raspy voice "here drink this" instructed Oak as he passed over a glass of water

Drayden took some small sips before trying to speak again "how did I get here? By the looks of it I must be in at your famous ranch" he said as he took in his surroundings.

"You were in luck, one of my students just happened to be wandering a dangerous forest, which he shouldn't have been doing in the first place, and happened upon an injured Dragon master and his fabled Haxorus" explained professor Oak.

"I must thank him" replied Drayden after chuckling at the professor's choice of words.

"I'll call him for you, you're still weak from blood loss so don't try to get out of bed" Instructed the professor as he went out in search for his pupil.

When Ash entered the room Professor Oak directed him towards he was hesitant to walk in upon seeing the man he saved.

"Hello, you must be the boy who saved me earlier, Professor Oak didn't tell me your name" Drayden spoke first.

"Hello sir, my name is Ash Ketchum" Ash greeted quietly, a little intimidated by the large man with scary beard.

"It's nice to meet you Ash, my name is Drayden and I would like to thank you for saving me in the forest, you're a smart and brave boy" Ash beamed from the praise and forgot all about being intimidated as he sat on the chair next to Drayden's bed.

"Thank you sir, it was my pleasure" replied Ash cheerfully.

"Well Ash, what were you doing so deep in the forest in the first place? Not that I'm complaining of course" he asked the young boy.

"I was out looking for wild Pokémon, we see a lot of Pokémon in the ranch that belong to trainer's, but the kids at school are always bragging about how they've seen lots of wild Pokémon and I haven't seen any" Ash complained… err _explained_ to Drayden.

The two sat there chatting for a while and Drayden could tell the boy had a pure soul that was also as fiery as a dragon type Pokémon. Just what was necessary for an aspiring elite Dragon Master, he reminded Drayden of himself in his youth, which was of course a very long time ago. He was brought out of his musings by Ash's next demand… err _question._

"So, professor Oak explained on the way here you're a Dragon Master, what is that? And what other Pokémon do you have other than Haxorus? Professor Oak told me the name of that Pokémon, how powerful is he?" Ash asked excitedly.

Drayden chuckled before replying 'yep, definitely reminds me of myself' "well Ash, first of all A Dragon master is a trainer who trains only Dragon type Pokémon and has been deemed an expert in the profession. I have a full team of dragon type Pokémon on me at the moment but they got too injured to fight earlier that's why you only got to see Haxorus. And finally Haxorus is my oldest friend and he is very powerful if I do say so myself." Answered Drayden all in one breath, the same as he was asked those questions, he chuckled again at Ash's awed expression; he seemed to be chuckling a lot since he met the young boy despite the circumstances. Then he remembered why he was in Kanto in the first place.

"Well Ash, I'm glad to have met you and got a chance to talk to you but I would need to get going now, can you call professor Oak for me while I get changed please?" Ash looked disappointed but went to call the professor none the less.

As Ash, Professor Oak and Delia got back to Drayden's room they saw he was already dressed.

"Well Samuel, It's been nice meeting you again and thank you for healing me, unfortunately I'm on a special assignment from the G-men on Lance's request as he is busy on another assignment so I have to get going" Drayden explained as they all walked outside.

"Think nothing of it, I was glad to help and good luck on your assignment" replied professor Oak cheerfully before adopting a serious look "you will have to get the stitching on your leg checked tomorrow on by the latest and try not to move around on it too much" Instructed Oak.

"I'll be sure to do that and Mrs Ketchum, you have a wonderful son you must be proud of him" said Drayden as he beamed down at his young saviour.

"Oh yes, such a wonderful boy my Ashy is!" exclaimed Mrs Ketchum as she hugged her boy again.

Ash blushed under so much praise and let out a weak "Mum!" The adults chuckled at the young boy's shyness before Drayden got out a poke ball and knelt down next to Ash.

"Well Ash I know you're only seven but to show you my gratitude I would like to give you your first Pokémon friend" Drayden pressed a button on the ball "Come on out Axew!" He exclaimed as a small green Pokémon shot out in a red beam.

The Pokémon was green all over with a darker shade skull with a single large horn on top; it had a light green around its collar with two jaws sticking out from either side of its mouth. It had a small green tail and vibrant, big red eyes. Ash was amazed at the rather cute looking Pokémon.

"This is Axew Ash, and Axew this is Ash your new friend" Axew looked at the boy in front of him and stared at his deep chocolate brown eyes.

"Axew!" exclaimed the Pokémon and jumped onto Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. Ash let out a small giggle as he got out of his stupor. He couldn't believe he was getting his first Pokémon pal already!

* * *

(End Flashback)

Ash was brought out of his thoughts on the best day of his life by his door being thrown open and being slammed into a tackle-hug by a Pokémon nearly as tall as his 5"5' frame.

"Frax Frax! Fraxure!" shouted Ash's starter excitedly. Ash laughed alongside his friend, it seems Fraxure was just as excited as him to get started on their own adventure around the world and meeting new friends.


	2. Chapter 2 New Adventure! New friends!

AN:

My first ever author's note yippee!

First of all anyone who would like to beta please PM me, I didn't realise how hard it can be to look out for every little spelling, grammar and writing mistake and would appreciate the help!

Hopefully you enjoy the story

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything related

* * *

Chapter 2 First Adventure! New Friends!

At eight am Ash Ketchum was walking towards the hilltop where his dreams shall be gaining flight. He was dressed curtsy of his mother's hard work. Red and black high tops, black cargo pants with several pockets filled with Pokémon essentials, a red tank top with a green flame on the chest similar looking to a dragon breath attack, he had on a black leather jacket with red sleeves. The outfit was finished off with a red bandanna on his head with a black Pokémon league logo on the front.

Ash also had a single pokeball attached to a red belt on his waist. The pokeball held his starter Pokémon Fraxure, this Pokémon and the man Ash rescued as a seven year old were the reasons for the change in Ash's dreams. He still wanted to be a Master, but he now wanted to specialise in Dragon types and be the best!

With that thought Ash was now standing in front of Oak Laboratories, taking a deep breath the aspiring dragon master pushed through the doors to come face to back with Professor Oak.

"Hi professor, I'm here to start my journey" Exclaimed Ash.

"Ah Ash, good to see you my boy!" said the old professor as he turned around from what he was doing to greet one of his star pupils.

"Well professor, what do I need to do before I get going?" asked Ash eagerly.

"First of all, I know you already have a starter Pokémon. However, that Pokémon was a reward for a heroic deed. Therefore, I believe you should still get an original starter Pokémon for the Kanto region!"

Ash couldn't believe his ears; he never thought he would be getting one of the starters as he already had his Fraxure. "Are you sure professor? Won't that be unfair to have two starters?" Ash inquired carefully, hoping the professor doesn't change his mind. After all, there was a certain Pokémon amongst the starter's he really badly wanted.

"I am very sure Ash. I believe it is only fair, not getting a tamed starter like every other beginner trainer because of a good deed you did in the past will be unfair" Oak explained this exuberantly to an even more excited Ash,

"Al right professor I chose Charmander!" Ash all but yelled near the end, he got a chuckle in reply from his mentor.

"I knew that would be your pick, ever since you decided to focus on Dragon types. I already have the pokeball here" explained Professor Oak as he handed Ash a pokeball with a flame sticker on top.

Ash released the Pokémon within the ball, immediately the red energy shaped into a red bipedal Pokémon with large green eyes and a long tale with a flaming tip, an exuberant "Char!" was followed by Ash getting hugged around the legs by the jovial fire type.

"This little one has seen you training with your Fraxure out back through the window, I knew it was hoping to be training with you ever since" Professor Oak answered to the enquiring gaze from his future sponsor. Professor Oak then handed Ash five pokeballs and a red gadget the size of a tall wallet.

"Here are the customary five pokeballs every regional professor gives a beginning trainer. This is a National Pokadex, now usually I would give you a regional Pokadex. However, as you are starting your journey with one Pokémon native to the one of the furthest regions from Kanto. I think its best you have a national Pokadex, that way you can train your Fraxure more affectively." As Professor Oak got into his lecture mode Ash was looking through the Pokadex and finding it very helpful indeed.

"Thank you professor for all the help, I really appreciate it." Ash spoke sincerely before packing the pokeballs on the opposite side of his belt, then the Pokadex in his most accessible pant pocket. Lastly he returned Charmander and placed his minimized pokeball next to Fraxure's.

"No need to thank me my boy, all in a day's job for an old professor, now you best get going on your journey!" spoke the professor before ushering him out.

Ash thanked the professor once more before going down the steps, only to be gathered into a hug by his sad but exuberant mother.

"Oh Ash, I'm going to miss you so much! Here's your backpack, you left it at home. Please be safe and remember to change your you-know-what's every day!" spoke a weeping Delia Ash she let go of her son and wiped the tears.

"Don't worry mom I will be extra careful on my journey and I promise to call you every time I reach a Pokémon centre. And I'm a big boy now mom, I don't need to be reminded to change my you-know-what's" replied an exasperated Ash Ketchum, trying to hold back the tears of leaving his mom. After shouldering his large black camping back he gave his mom one last hug before setting off towards route one.

It had been three hours since Ash left off on route one, he met and fought a few wild Pokémon who wanted to challenge him. But since none were dragon type or had dragon type capabilities his party didn't increase. He did meat two trainers, both bug catchers and got a feel of his first taste of Pokémon battle. Throughout all the battles so far Ash used Charmander with Fraxure watching on. He could have used Fraxure for an easier win but he realised the importance of getting Charmander more experience to at least try and get him as close to Fraxure's level as possible before the first gym.

Currently Ash was battling a young trainer with a Pidgey using Charmander and Fraxure watching on.

"Charmander dodge to the left and use ember!" Charmander dodged the incoming gust and peppered out a couple of small flames, that was the last straw for the Pidgey before it fainted. The trainer returned his Pidgey, shook hands with Ash and ran off, presumably to get his Pokémon treated.

"Well done Charmander that last ember was most powerful and you're getting faster at dodging attacks." Praised Ash, Charmander blushed under the praise before being patted on the head by a happy Fraxure.

"Okay guys, let's keep going, I want to get to Viridian in an hour hopefully" Ash explained before continuing his walk north towards the city, both his Pokémon walking either side of him. He decided it was best if his Pokémon walked outside when they were in the wild, that way they get to experience he does and they grow closer as a family. Of course, he wasn't planning on keeping that belief when they were fully evolved, 'any path would be too overcrowded then' thought Ash, amused at himself.

After another ten minute walk they came across a river, Ash decided to pull out his fishing rod. There weren't any water type that interested him much, but there was a water type that can evolve into a Pokémon with dragon type capabilities. He decided, the earlier he caught a Magikarp the longer he will have to form a bond with it, and the sooner he will get an awesome atrocious Pokémon.

The super rod he was using was a ninth birthday gift from his mother, he spoke about Magikarp and their evolved form with his mother for days after learning about them from professor Oak, Delia Ketchum then knew what the best gift for her son would be on that birthday.

He had been fishing for nearly an hour, he's had only one bite but unfortunately it was only a Psyduck, even though they are quite rare for these parts it still had no dragon type capabilities. The battle against that Psyduck was tough for Charmander being his first type disadvantage battle, but he pulled through and won with one last scratch, Ash ended up catching that Pokémon seeing how tough it was. Not being very fond of fishing itself, Ash decided to give up and try again later.

A little walk along the river bed later and… "Argh! Another Magikarp! That's all I ever get!" Hearing about a Magikarp Ash dashed towards the sound. Just in time to see a tall redhead with a ponytail on one side, wearing blue short shorts, a yellow short t-shirt with red suspenders, kick a flailing Magikarp back into the river.

"Hey, did I hear you caught a Magikarp you don't want?" Ash asked the redhead hopefully.

"No, you don't think I would actually catch one do you? And it's polite to introduce yourself before asking random question to someone you just met" berated the girl with one hand on her hip and another waggling her index finger at him.

"Oh sorry, my name is Ash Ketchum and I'm hoping to catch a Magikarp" Ash introduced himself, albeit with slumped shoulders because of a failed attempt at catching any Magikarp.

"My name is Misty Waterflower, and if it's a Magikarp you want I can help you. You see I am a future water type Pokémon master" Misty exclaimed puffing her chest out in a show of pride.

This excited Ash "oh you will? Thank you very much!" Ash exclaimed at the prospect of catching his first wild Pokémon. (That he actually wants)

"Yes, but if I catch you a Magikarp I won't do it for free, we'll trade! What water Pokémon do you have?" Misty enquired with a serious look on her face. Ash was counting his lucky stars for catching that water Pokémon earlier.

"I have a Psyduck, and he's all yours if you can give me a Magikarp" Ash replied.

"A Psyduck? Are you sure you want to trade it for a Magikarp?" Misty asked looking bemused at Ash's choice of Pokémon value.

"Yes! I want to a Dragon Pokémon Master, I can do that well with a Gyaridos than a Psyduck" Ash explained.

"Very well then, it won't take long hold on to my new Psyduck for me." With that misty sat back down on the rock she was using to fish. Not five minutes later a larger than average Magikarp was pulled out the water.

"Misty calls Starmie!" shouted misty, throwing a pokeball that released a Pokémon. The Pokémon was shaped as a star fish but with ten points, it was purple with a large red gem in the middle.

"Starmie confusion followed by tackle quick time!" the Starmie was surrounded by a blue glow which was transferred to the Magikarp, throwing it against the tree in the process. Before it could do anything it was hit hard by the charging Starmie. "Pokeball go" the Magikarp was sucked in by the ball, after some movements the capture was signalled with a low ding.

Misty handed the pokeball over to Ash receiving Psyduck's pokeball with the other hand. Both trainers let out their new Pokémon with a wide smile on their faces. Ash knelt down towards his new Magikarp.

"Hey Magikarp, my name is Ash Ketchum and I'm your new trainer. I promise to take care of you as best I can and train you to be as strong as you can." With that Ash petted the top of Magikarp's scaly head.

"Karp, Karp Magikarp!" replied Magikarp exuberantly while flailing her fins about. Ash smiled and thought of how he could carry Magikarp out of her pokeball on their journey. She clearly couldn't walk like Charmander or Fraxure as she had no legs, he couldn't place her on his head or shoulder because of her size. That last thought gave him an idea; he made space on top of his rucksack, placed some comfortable sheets on top and placed Magikarp on top of that.

"There, now you can travel out your pokeball until you evolve" Ash explained cheerfully. Misty was watching this interaction after greeting her own new Psyduck, she liked how Ash interacted with his Pokémon and decided he would make a decent travelling partner. It did help that he was rather cute, the last thought making her blush lightly. Averting her gaze, it fell upon the unusual large green Pokémon standing next to Ash.

"Hey Ash, what's that Pokémon next to you? She asked curiously. "Ash looked at who misty was looking at and smiled. "That's Fraxure the evolved form of Axew, their dragon type and native to a faraway region called Unova. Fraxure is also my best friend" Explained Ash, proud to introduce his friend.

"Cool, I've never heard of his species before, I have heard of Unova from my sister's though; they're the gym leaders of Cerulean City." Misty explained

"That's cool; I'm taking the gym challenge so I guess I'll see them when I'm there. Where are you off to now?" Ash asked looking at misty.

"Well I'm just travelling around the region to catch more water Pokémon and get stronger overall." Replied Misty with hope laced in her voice. Ash suddenly had a great idea.

"Hey Misty! Why don't we travel together, it would be better to have company!" this was met by indignant cries from all three of Ash's Pokémon which made Misty giggle.

"Uh… I meant human company that I can have a conversation with" seeing this wasn't improving his Pokémon's indignation he continued "it would also be good to have another trainer's opinion on raising Pokémon, and we could battle to each other to get stronger too" Ash asked hopefully, his Pokémon seemed to agree with the last two reasons as well and were looking at Misty hopefully.

Misty was glad to have been asked this question before she asked Ash herself; she had a standard to uphold after all. "I think that would be a good idea so I accept" she replied calmly, inside she was squealing like a little girl on making a new friend and travel companion.

"Great, let us get going to Viridian before nightfall." Ash exclaimed before they all set off on the road again. Ash decided to explain to Misty of his training plans though, just in case she had other plans. "Hey Misty, I was planning on staying at Viridian for a week to train my Pokémon before getting to Pewter City for my first Badge. Is that okay with you?" he asked

"Sure, I didn't have any destination planned anyway. I'm not in any rush either so I'm okay to follow your plans." Misty replied "The same goes for the rest of our journey together, I just want to travel and get stronger, so as long as there are enough time for rest, and a good supply of lakes and rivers to catch water Pokémon from I'll follow your planned route." Misty explained to a now cheery Ash, those were easy enough conditions to follow.

(END)

* * *

AN:

Okay so the end of my second chapter of my first story I decided to publish.

Let me know what you think, I don't have all of Ash's team planned but there are certain things I am sure about.

As a first time publisher on this site I would appreciate any legitimate advice from other author's, especially those I've communicated with through PM's in the past.

For anyone that actually likes the story so far I will publish once a week (hopefully)

Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3 Training to Forest Treck

Chapter 3 Training to Forest Trek!

AN: Now that I am past the introductory stages of the story it should get interesting, hopefully you all enjoy the training method I chose for Ash to use and the action sequences. (More training less action this chapter)

I might be getting a Beta for this story (fingers crossed). But for the moment this chapter is like the last two, unbeta'd (if that can even be a word)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything related

* * *

It was the morning after Ash and Misty arrived at Viridian City; Misty was lightly snoring away in their room in the Pokémon centre. However, Ash was currently out on the training and battle field attached to the back of the Pokémon centre. He thought of going back in the wilderness and find a water source so he could train Magikarp effectively, then he spotted the small pond next to the training field.

Right now Ash was standing next to the pond Pokadex in hand, all three of his Pokémon standing facing him.

**Fraxure, the Dragon type Pokémon. Their tusks can shatter rocks. Territory battles between Fraxure can be intensely violent. This Fraxure is mail and knows the moves Assurance, Dragon rage, Dual Chop, Dragon Claw, Dragon Breath and Dragon dance; Fraxure has the ability Mould Break and the hidden ability Unnerve.**

Ash was stunned by his starter's skills, 'wow, all those mock battles with the Pokémon at the Oak coral mist have strengthened him up more than I thought'. He moved on to the next entry.

**Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. Charmander's health can be gauged by the fire on the tip of its tail, which burns intensely when it's in good health. This Charmander is female and knows the moves Scratch, Ember, Smokescreen and Dragon Rage. Charmander has the ability Blaze.**

Ash was happy with his Charmander, even though she only knew four moves knowing her ability will make her a tough foe to take down. In a way he was also happy with the number of moves she knew, this would give him an opportunity to raise her from a relatively early age, hopefully this will help him if she develops an attitude problem after evolving.

**Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon. Magikarp can live in the dirtiest of water. It jumps very well and can evolve into Gyarados. This Magikarp is female and knows the moves Splash, Tackle and Flail. Magikarp has the ability swift swim. **

Magikarp's stats were as expected for Ash, he was just glad for her flail attack. It was a good attack to have if she got in a tight spot in battles. The swift swim ability was a welcome boon, Ash was sure the water gym in Cerulean would be based around a pool.

"Okay guys, you all have very good abilities and moves. Now, this is what we're going to be doing for the next week" Ash faced Fraxure and Charmander. "Fraxure I want you to teach Charmander Dragon Claw, this should be easy as he knows Dragon rage and with your help should be able to generate the same Dragon ability into his claws for the attack, come see me when you're done. I will have a move for both of you to learn then" Fraxure moved over to an open space with Charmander.

Ash turned to the new member of his team, "Magikarp me and you will be working one on one for a while to improve the attacks you already know. Afterwards we'll see if we can get you using those moves on land somehow" Ash explained as he took off his jeans and jacket and jumped into the shallow pond.

Three hours later and Ash and his team were still training hard. Misty was now sitting on a bench near the training field and watching Ash train with his Magikarp on land. Currently Magikarp had managed to walk on land using her fins, Ash was hoping by the end of the day she would be running on land using her fins. Charmander had already mastered Dragon claw, when they went back to Ash he was pleased with how fast she mastered the move. Now, both Charmander and Fraxure were channelling their energy into their claws again. However, instead of the Dragon energy manifesting in their claws, they were trying to harden it as much as possible before slashing it across the rocks; both Charmander and Fraxure were attempting to learn Metal Claw.

* * *

It was now eight in the evening and Ash and Misty were sitting in one of the tables of the Pokémon centre. They had eaten a very good meal courtesy of the Pokémon centre chef; they were currently discussing their journey and what route they were planning to take for Ash to get his eight badges and more Pokémon for his team.

"Well that's it, our route is planned hopefully there aren't too many detours or you won't get enough time to train before the indigo league" sighed Misty as she folded up the map they were using.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for helping and accompanying me on this journey Misty. I didn't even think of planning the route before you mentioned it" Ash spoke sincerely.

"Not a problem Ash, now we should get to bed if you hope to get up at the crack of dawn for your training" replied Misty with a light blush on her cheeks, she was still to get used to Ash's compliments, it wasn't easy when you're not used to such things growing up.

* * *

The next morning Ash was awake and ready to get started, he wasn't alone though. After watching him train yesterday Misty decided is she wanted to be elite water Pokémon trainer she would have to train just as hard. Now she was walking towards the edge of the city with Ash to find a suitable area to train, the pond was a great addition to the Pokémon centre train area but it wasn't big enough for all of Misty's Pokémon.

After finding a large open meadow next to a lake Ash set his Pokémon continuing where they left off yesterday. Magikarp was jogging around a small part of the meadow on her fins with a small rock strapped to her back; Charmander and Fraxure were busy turning the large boulders around the meadow to rubble with their near perfect Metal Claw's. Ash was watching Misty train her Pokémon hoping to get some tips to use with Magikarp, Misty had her Seaking and Goldeen in the lake working on their agility and horn attacks whilst Starmie Staryu and Psyduck were strengthening their psychic abilities by lifting some small boulders with telekinesis.

After watching Misty train for a while Ash decided to join Magikarp in her run to provide motivation. He decided he would teach Magikarp agility in the water when she mastered all her current moves on the ground, he was confident she would master it fast thanks to her swift swim ability.

By the end of the day's training session all Pokémon were showing great signs of improvement, even Ash was feeling tired but satisfied with the constant running he did with Magikarp. After half an hour of running he tied small rocks to his ankles and his arms to match Magikarp's run with the rock on her back, Magikarp was pleased her trainer was so supportive and upped her own efforts; by the end of the day she had managed to perform all her moves apart from splash on land successfully. Charmander and Fraxure had enjoyed smashing boulders into rubble so much they had moved on to trying the same feat with their tails, after some instruction from Ash, both Pokémon were attempting to channel the steel type energy into their tails to learn Iron Tail.

Misty's Pokémon had improved as swell thanks to her new motivation to improve after watching Ash train. By the end of the day both Seaking and Goldeen were having a mock battle using only agility and horn attack, Seaking won after a long challenge, both Pokémon were very exhausted having never trained like that before. Starmie, Staryu and Psyduck were another matter entirely; they were enjoying their training so much they had started a game of psychic leapfrog. They were each using telekinesis to lift the Pokémon behind them over not only their head but also of the Pokémon in front of them, this went on until Psyduck's headache became too high and he let off a large psychic energy before feinting, this was followed by two thumps either side of him as Starmie and Staryu also feinted from Psyduck's psychic.

* * *

It had been a week since Ash and Misty arrived in Viridian City, now they were on their way towards Viridian forest to start the next leg of their journey. They had already stocked up on supplies from the Pokemart, especially with poison heals as they were trekking through a bug Pokémon filled forest.

Ash was thinking back on the intense training week he just had with his Pokémon and Misty. They had all improved a lot more than he could ever hope to; Magikarp had mastered agility in the water and on land. She was getting very fast and powerful; he couldn't have hoped for a more dedicated Magikarp and just knew she could evolve any day now. Charmander was his second most improved Pokémon; she had mastered Dragon claw, Metal claw and Iron tail. As thought the improvements had to be Fraxure's influence, it was hard not improve when the one you were training with is so powerful. Fraxure himself had mastered both Metal Claw and Iron tail.

Apart from the new moves all his Pokémon had improved in speed and power, Ash's last training day had consisted of working all his Pokémon together on agility and attacking moving objects, Magikarp used tackle, Charmander and Fraxure used their new moves alternately. Misty helped him with that training by throwing small rocks in the air, Ash commanded his Pokémon to use agility then called out a move for them to use. It was a difficult session but well worth it. By the end of the sessions they had improved their attacks and speed greatly, the bond they shared with their trainer had also improved. They all trusted him explicitly and let Ash's commands override their own instincts, they knew he was better at gauging the opposition and would have a better understand the technicalities of attack and defence strategies.

"What are you thinking Ash? You've been awfully quiet for a while now" Misty asked with concern on her face.

"Oh just about this past week, I never would have thought our first training stop would be so successful. I knew the other trainers from my town were intent on getting all their badges as soon as possible. Gary Oak, Professor Oaks grandson had even bought himself a car to get around Kanto faster" explained Ash "before the training week I was doubting whether I would be better off taking a leaf out of their book and getting all my badges, now I am confident I have made the right choice" Ash finished confidently.

"Well your method is a rarely used one by Pokémon trainers but I can tell you now, most of the elite trainers in the world must have used the same method to get so strong at a younger age than most" replied Misty encouragingly.

Soon they had made it into the forest, the deeper they went the more Ash noticed Misty seemed to be on edge.

"What's wrong Misty? Why are you so nervous?" Ash asked, concerned for his friend.

Misty sighed, she was hoping she wouldn't have to explain her greatest weakness to Ash any time soon but it looked like he was more perceptive than she thought, darn her luck. "It's just, I'm afraid of bug Pokémon a lot" replied Misty meekly in a hushed tone. Ash chuckled at that; she wasn't the first girl he came across that was afraid of bug Pokémon. "It's okay Misty, I have just the thing" Ash explained as he searched through his pack. He pulled out a small canister "here use this repel" Ash held out the canister for Misty to take.

"No Ash, I wouldn't want to keep the Pokémon away from us, being a trainer I know you might want to catch some here" Misty replied pushing the canister back towards Ash.

"It's okay Misty, I want to be a dragon type trainer remember, the only reason I would want wild Pokémon from this forest to come near me is so I could battle them; I can still battle other trainer's in the forest instead of the wild Pokémon." Ash explained as he sprayed the repel all around them, he put the empty canister back into his pack before they resumed their journey.

* * *

At nightfall Ash and Misty went about setting camp in an open area within the forest, Misty was happily spraying a couple of repel canister's around the camp whilst Ash went about setting up their sleeping bags. Fraxure had gathered some dry wood into the pit he made earlier with Metal claw, Charmander lit the wood with her tail.

They were all gathered around the fire now with Ash and Misty wrapped around in shawls. "Well Ash, seven more battles in the forest and you're still unbeaten. How have you managed to keep from getting a big head?" Misty asked with slight humour lacing her voice.

"To be honest Misty, growing up around Gary I know how annoying it can be to be around a big headed person" explained Ash "I wouldn't want you or any of my Pokémon getting fed up of me because of my attitude, besides I couldn't have done so well so far without having such a dedicated team of Pokémon and a great training partner" Ash said looking at Misty.

"I'm happy as well" replied Misty, she was getting used to Ash's compliments. "My Pokémon have improved a lot too, I still can't believe Goldeen evolved after only one week of me adopting your training method."

Ash and Misty drifted off to sleep in no time by conversing with each other; Fraxure looked on at his sleeping trainer. He thought himself lucky to have Ash as a friend and trainer; he too remembered the other kids in Pallet town and knew he wouldn't have lasted ten minutes being a Pokémon of that Gary kid with the size of his ego. He put out the fire with some dirt and put himself and the sleeping Charmander back in their pokeballs.

* * *

The next morning Ash and Misty packed up their camp-site after breakfast; they were hoping to cover enough ground to make it out of the forest today or the day after at the latest. Two hours later and the progress wasn't so good, thanks to the repel sprays there weren't any wild Pokémon to deal with, however there were many more bug catchers to deal with, these young trainers were only interested in catching and training bug type Pokémon, making their challenges very easy for Ash with his Fraxure and Charmander.

Misty on the other hand tried to stay away from them as much as possible; even though the Pokémon type had an advantage over her own Pokémon her biggest obstacle was her fear of bugs. Still she did battle three of these trainers, winning all three because the trainers were inexperienced. Ash ploughed right through most of these trainers with relative ease, taking out four apiece with Fraxure and Charmander, even winning a couple of battles with his dedicated Magikarp.

"Ash watch out!" Came Misty's scream from in front of him, Ash turned on the spot; the only thing he could see was shining silver.

"Ah, so your names Ash! You must be the one from Pallet Town" exclaimed the person in front of him. Now that the metal blade was moved away from his face he could see a boy about his height dressed in a black ninja garb standing in front of him.

"What's the big idea swinging that thing around! You could take somebody's head off with that!" Screamed Misty from behind him now. Ash was glaring at the boy too; misty took the words right out of his mouth.

"Hey, no harm done. I am Samurai; I have been looking for this trainer for a week now." Explained the overstuffed samurai "about one week ago I was defeated three times by kids from Pallet Town, one of them who was driving a red car said to look for this 'Ashy-Boy' if I wanted an easy win" he finished by sheathing his samurai blade.

Ash was fuming inside, 'easy win huh? I'll show him what an easy win looks like when I thrash him!' Thought Ash, he couldn't wait to face Gary and rub his face into the dirt with his Pokémon.

"Let's battle then" said Ash confidently "I choose Charmander, let's show him what an easy win looks like" Ash exclaimed, releasing Charmander from her ball.

"I'll crush that lizard in half, go Pinsir!" exclaimed the fat samurai, releasing a moderate sized brown bug Pokémon with huge white horns sticking out of its head. The horns each had many thorns around it's, the Pokémon had a large mouth with teeth snapping sideways.

Ash smirked, another bug fanatic this is way too easy, "Charmander ember followed by agility then Dragon claw" snapped Ash. Charmander released large breaths of orange fire at the oversized bug.

"Pinsir dodge" shouted the Samurai. Pinsir managed to dodge the ember by jumping backwards. The poor Pokémon didn't see the flashing purple claws that slashed across its torso very fast.

"Charmander finish with ember quickly" the orange flames so close were too much for the bug and it feinted on the spot.

"This isn't over" shouted Samurai as Pinsir was turned to red energy as it was recalled. Another red flash and another Pokémon was in front of Ash and Charmander. It had a completely green body with only two eyes. It had no appendages at all, it was a Metapod. Ash sweat dropped, he didn't think anyone would be daft enough to send a Metapod to battle, especially with a type disadvantage.

"Charmander get close with agility then ember until it feints" Ash ordered. Quick as a flash Charmander was upon Metapod and was raining down fiery hell on the poor bug. It didn't last long; the second ember was overkill to make the Metapod feint.

"Ahh Metapod return" panicked the Samurai "that Gary lied, you were the toughest battle yet, I couldn't even get an attack in." Said samurai before running the other way as fast as he could.

"Wow, how could someone be so stupid to use a Metapod in a battle where even a Pinsir couldn't get an attack in" said Misty slightly bemused at the antics of some people.

"Well, hopefully we don't see many more people like him on our journey" replied Ash.

* * *

After walking for several hours, only stopping for a small lunch; Ash and Misty again found themselves in Viridian forest at night.

"Oh, I was hoping we'd be in Pewter by now" moaned Misty.

"If we carry I'm sure we'll be there in a couple of hours" replied Ash.

"There is no way am I travelling at night in Viridian forest, with or without repel" replied an adamant Misty, crossing her arms and digging her heals in for emphasis. Ash sighed as the duo set up camp once more.

* * *

After breakfast the next morning the duo set off for Pewter once more. This time knowing the City was close they both had a spring in their step. They didn't encounter any more bug catchers and thankfully, no more annoying Samurai's.

It only took them an hour and a half but they were now facing the Pewter City welcome sign.

"We've finally made it, I can't wait to get to the Pokémon centre and have a nice, long, relaxing bath" sighed Misty dreamily, she grabbed Ash's hand and ran off towards the Pokémon centre "come on Ash, let's go!" Shouted Misty, giggling all the way and dragging a blushing Ash along.

(End)

AN: Finally I'm done; hopefully this chapter meets the expectations of those waiting for it. Next chapter will be the gym battle and the introduction of our three annoying but incompetent villains. I've intro'd them late on purpose. Like I metioned at the end of last chapter, the chapter's for this story will be published weekly, most likely midweek like this chapter as I have lectures to attend Monday and Tuesday.


	4. Chapter 4 Museums, Gyms, Rockets!

Chapter 3 Museums, Gyms and Rockets!

AN: Good news for everyone, I have a beta reader!

Specials thanks and applause for Darkrai6543

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any characters!

* * *

"Welcome to the Pewter City Pokémon Centre, how can I help you?" Asked Nurse Joy

"We'd like a room please-"

"And could you check our Pokémon please" interrupted Ash, making Misty blush for forgetting about their Pokémon.

"Of course, Chansey will take your Pokémon" Nurse Joy pointed towards a large egg shaped Pokémon with a pouch and wearing a nurses apron and hat. The Pokémon placed the trays containing Ash and Misty's Pokéball on her trolley and took them through a door behind the desk.

"Here is your room key, we'll call you over the intercom when the check-ups are done" said Nurse Joy as she handed Misty over a room key.

As Misty was in the bathroom making full use of the bath, Ash was lying on one of the beds contemplating about his first gym badge. He already knew the from his studies back in Pallet Town that the gym was a rock one and battles preferred by the leader were 2 v 2. Now he just had to decide which Pokémon to use.

'Hmm, if Magikarp knew any water type moves she would be an obvious choice, unfortunately she doesn't, and most likely won't until she evolves. That leaves Fraxure and Charmander. They should be able to hold their own with the steel type moves they both know.' In the end the choice was an obvious one for Ash, though he would wait until Misty was done before heading for the gym; it was still fairly early in the morning so there was no rush.

* * *

Two hours later Ash and Misty were standing in front of the massive double doors of the Pewter City gym. It was a large warehouse like construct with the coloring making it look like a cave. Ash pushed open the double doors; there was no reception so he strode right into the battle area.

"Hello, I would like to challenge the gym leader!" shouted Ash hoping someone would hear him.

Footsteps were heard towards their right; they turned to see a young girl about their age approaching.

"Hi, I'm afraid you can't have a gym battle today, my older brother, who is the gym leader here, has taken my brothers and sisters to the museum. If you come back tomorrow you can have your gym battle." The girl explained before leaving again through a side door.

Ash slumped from hearing he can't have his battle today. "It's okay Ash, we'll come back tomorrow, and maybe we can go and enjoy the museum here as well. I heard it's famous for the amount of Pokémon fossils it has." said Misty trying to cheer up her friend.

"Yeah that sounds good; I wonder what else we'll get to see in the museum." replied Ash while they headed out the gym and followed the street directions towards the museum.

Very soon they were entering easily the largest building in the small city, it was built with large white bricks and many windows on the top half and roof. They went up to the reception and paid the entrance fee, as soon as they turned to enter through the main lobby they were bowled over by two rushing blurs of black.

"No Stop! Somebody stop the thieves!" Shouted a bespectacled man dressed in a white lab coat, running after two large men dressed in black jumpsuits with a large red 'R` on the front. The very ones Ash and Misty realized that had knocked them over, they each had a brown bag over their shoulders that were bulging with items.

Acting on instinct, Ash gave chase; releasing a Pokéball from his belt simultaneously.

"Go Fraxure! Dragon Breath on those on those thieves followed by Dual Chop!" Ash commanded the red energy that formed into his starter.

Fraxure came out of his Pokéball running; he releases a jet of purple flaming smoke that caused the two thieves to freeze up upon contact, they fell to the ground in a solid statue like state thanks to Dragon Breath's ability to paralyze.

"Fraxure, hold the dual chop; I don't think it's needed." shouted Ash, amused at the grunts comical fall.

Fraxure stood over the two grunts as his trainer reached them, Ash pried the two sacks out of the stiff fingers of the paralyzed men and turned towards the approaching scientist who was heavily huffing and panting.

"Thank you… huff… young man… (Pant)… I can't explain how important your actions were right now." finished the man as he regained his breath.

"It's okay sir, I couldn't have let them get away with this when I could stop them." replied Ash fiercely, showing a gleam of his natural instinct to fight injustice and crime.

"Well young man, I think you deserve a reward for such bravery, why don't you help me carry these sacks back to the museum." replied the man as he shouldered one of the sacks; Ash mimicked his move with the other sack.

Halfway there they were joined by a still slightly dazed Misty. "Are you okay Misty? I know you bore the brunt of those thieves knocking us down." Ash asked, concerned for his friend.

"I'm okay, just slightly dazed but no injuries." replied Misty smiling at Ash for his concern.

As they made their way back into the museum, the security guards took the sacks from Ash and the scientist, apologizing for not being at the entrance. The Scientist led Ash, Misty and the security guards carrying the sacks into a large office/lab at the back of the building, the guards left after dropping the sacks on a table whilst Ash and Misty were told to take a seat.

After searching through one of the sacks "Ah hah!" exclaimed the scientist as he turned towards Ash and Misty holding two rocks in his hand.

"Here," he said passing one rock to each of them "for your bravery Ash… and for slowing the thieves down by getting hit Misty. These are fossils of Pokémon; the one I gave you Ash is a Jaw Fossil and a Cover Fossil for Misty. If you take them to the Seafoam Islands there is a lab there that can revive these fossils for you." explained the scientist.

"What Pokémon will they turn into?" Asked a curious but excited Misty.

"Well let's just keep that a surprise for the both of you. You will find out when they're revived." replied scientist making Ash and Misty groan.

* * *

After the exciting encounter in a museum of all places Ash and Misty were back on the Pokémon center training facility. Seeing as he wouldn't be having his gym battle today, they both decided a light training session before the battle tomorrow would be a good idea.

"That's it Charmander, one more time agility then Iron Tail on the boulder." Ash commanded. Charmander was a blur of motion for a couple of seconds before flipping in mid-air and turning his back only slightly to the target, a bright white energy surrounded his tail, just below the flame. After that a small flash the glow left behind a metallic looking tail that smashed into the small boulder, smashing it to rubble. All this happened in a matter of seconds thanks to the speed enhancing agility move.

"Well done Charmander, your speed is improving all the time!" cheered Ash "Now Fraxure, your turn; same attacks on that boulder" Ash instructed to his dragon type pointing at a random boulder.

After the same process of build-up and attack there was another pile of rubble to join the others they had been practicing on. This attack was considerably quicker than Charmander's, not surprising seeing the difference in experience between the two Pokémon.

Ash looked to the pond where Magikarp was working on her swimming and agility. Misty had also let her Pokémon out for a swim; they were all gathered around the pond having a good time with Misty sitting on a bench watching Ash train.

"Okay, I think it's time to finish off the training;" Ash addressed his Pokémon "everyone cool down with a light jog around the grounds. Magikarp, slow down your speed slowly until you stop. Then you can all relax with Misty's Pokémon." Ash instructed one final time. As his Pokémon were cooling down Ash sat down next to Misty.

"We should grab some dinner in an hour. That should give our Pokémon enough time to relax." said Ash. Misty just nodded her head as she shifted her attention to the Pokémon, enjoying watching them playing around the pool.

"So Ash, what Pokémon do you think are going to revive from those fossils we were given? I'm so excited to find out." asked Misty turning her attention back to Ash.

"I'm really excited too, but I have no idea what they could be. I've read about some fossils from professor Oak's library, the only ones I know of are the Helix and Dome fossils. They revive Omanyte and Kabuto. I've never heard of a Jaw or Cover fossil before." replied Ash.

They sat there chatting for an hour, after which they went to a local restaurant for a meal. They enjoyed the cooking in the Pokémon center, but they were bored of the same setting, so they decided to visit a restaurant that had a good view of the mountains far away.

* * *

The next morning Ash and Misty were walking towards the Pewter City Gym after a fulfilling breakfast at the same restaurant they ate their dinner last night. They enjoyed the food, and the atmosphere and scenery was so good they wanted to visit one more time before leaving the City. Misty couldn't help but squeal inside from thinking back to their dinner and breakfast, the whole thing seemed just so romantic to her. She let out a deep sigh with that thought.

Very soon they were upon the same large doors as yesterday, however today the doors were wide open, allowing them to stride through. They didn't bother searching for a reception after remembering from yesterday this gym didn't have one.

"Who goes there?" they heard a gruff voice from the darkness that wasn't there yesterday in the battle arena.

"My name is Ash Ketchum and I am here to challenge the gym leader for a badge." replied Ash, unsure of whom he was addressing.

Suddenly all the lights were switched on in the arena, an older teen was seen sitting cross legged on a raised platform at the far end of the battle arena.

"My name is Brock Stone, I am the Pewter City Gym leader and upon beating me you receive the boulder badge." spoke the now identified Brock. "You can forget about the badge though, you won't be beating me!" He finished by standing up and motioning Ash towards the other platform.

"Good luck Ash!" shouted Misty as she walked into the stands on the side of the arena.

Ash merely nodded in acknowledgement to Misty's cry before walking on to the challenger's platform and focusing on the battle ahead. He had heard from his mum and other elders in Pallet Town that gym battles are more difficult than the average battle, and knew he had to focus on the task on hand.

The same girl as yesterday walked out to the side of the field wearing a referee's outfit and holding two flags.

"This is a battle for the boulder badge between Gym Leader Brock and Challenger Ash Ketchum." spoke the referee raising both flags "Only the challenger is allowed substitutions and the battle is won when both of the opponents Pokémon are unable to battle, the Gym leader will choose his Pokémon first, Begin!" She finished by dropping both flags.

"Go Geodude!" Brock released a Pokémon shaped as a medium sized boulder with a face and two large rocky arms and five fingered fist.

"Charmander, I choose you!" replied Ash releasing his fire type.

"Charmander use smokescreen then agility!" Ash commanded Charmander let out a thick black smoke from her mouth that covered the entire half of Geodude's side of the battle field; she then used agility to speed around her own side, increasing the speed of her movements.

"Geodude try and get out of there!" Shouted Brock in a panic, he knew his Pokémon was done for if he couldn't get out of that smokescreen.

"While its struggling use ember!" Commanded Ash, Charmander let out a pepper of red flames. Upon impact it caused a small explosion thanks to the flammable smoke, once it cleared it showed some rubble and a hurt but still conscious Geodude amongst the rubble.

"Geodude use Rock Throw!" commanded brock, Geodude lifted some of the rocks around it and hurtled them at Charmander

"Charmander dodge them quick!" Instructed Ash, Charmander dodged as many as she could but a couple hit their mark, causing Charmander to cry out in pain.

"Time to finish this Charmander, Agility then metal claw!" thanks to the previous agility, Charmander had faster movement; she zipped through the rubble whilst gathering the energy in her paws

"Geodude dodge!" shouted Brock knowing full well the steel type move would be the last straw for his Pokémon. Ash smirked, that was exactly what he expected.

"Iron Tail when it dodges your Claws Charmander!" Ash commanded one more time as Geodude barely dodged the Metal Claw. Charmander's Tail lit up with the same energy before smashing into the rock Pokémon.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Gym Leader choose your final Pokémon!" said the referee raising her flag towards Ash showing his victory for the round.

"That was a good battle, but now it's time for you to lose. Go Onix!" Shouted Brock as he released a Pokémon. From the red energy it formed into a massive, long Pokémon with a snake like body structure. The Pokémon was so large it nearly touched the ceiling of the warehouse building; it seemed

to be made up of multiple boulders, each the size of an overlarge Geodude. It let out a roar as it formed, clearly intimidating Charmander.

"It's okay Charmander, you can beat it!" encouraged Ash. Charmander hearing the encouragement from her trainer squared her shoulders ready for battle.

"Onix dig!" Shouted Brock before Ash could get a command out. Onix speared its head into the ground which was quickly followed by the rest of its body as it burrowed deep underground.

Charmander was looking around in a panic trying to figure out where the large Pokémon would attack from.

"Charmander keep moving, use agility!" Ash instructed to his nervous Pokémon.

Suddenly, after a massive blast of rocks Onix executed its attack. Luckily, Charmander managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, but the slight graze still caused her pain.

"Charmander jump on Onix's back!" Ash instructed he attempted to finish off this battle before Onix landed an attack.

With a small leap Charmander jumped onto Onix's tail and ran up his rocky body using agility.

Brock smirked; this match was his. "Onix twist your body around and use bind!" directed the gym leader, Onix twisted deceptively fast for a Pokémon with such bulk and gripped Charmander in its coiled body, Charmander let out a scream of pain at being squeezed in a vice like grip.

"Hang in there Charmander, use metal claw continuously!" Ash shouted nervously, concerned for his friend. Charmander fought through the pain as both her hands glowed in a metallic sheen, which she then slashed across any part of Onix's rock body she had access to from her position.

It was Onix's turn to scream out in pain; the super effective move being more effective from being continuously used in the same area. After a tense few exchanges of their attacks Onix slumped to the ground puffing up the dust upon impact. They were all waiting anxiously for the dust to clear as there was no sound coming from within the dust.

As soon as it cleared Ash rushed to Charmander and gently lifted her unconscious form up from the ground. "You did well girl, I'm proud of you." Ash spoke gently as he returned Charmander to her Pokéball.

He didn't notice what condition Onix was in as all his thoughts were revolving around his official starter. Now, looking up he realized Brock must have recalled his Pokémon as it was nowhere in sight, and no signs of dig around where it landed.

"Both Onix and Charmander are unable to battle; challenger Ash Ketchum wins the match and the boulder badge!" announced the referee as soon as she came out of her shock from witnessing the intense battle of determination between the Onix and Charmander.

"Well done Ash, you did a lot better than I expected and defeated me; with only one Pokémon no less." praised Brock as he handed him a round brown badge.

"Thank you. I enjoyed our battle and I am as shocked as you that Charmander did so well." returned Ash as he placed the boulder badge in a metal case.

* * *

After a congratulatory hug from Misty they both left the gym and walked towards the Pokémon center to get Charmander healed. The referee, whose name was Yolanda, and was one of Brock's siblings, decided to accompany the two, as Brock had tasked her to get both Geodude and Onix treated at the Pokémon center.

Now the trio was sitting around a table whilst Nurse Joy treated their Pokémon. "So Yolanda, how come you're the referee of Pewter gym?" asked Ash "Shouldn't there be an official league referee or something."

"I am an official Pokémon league referee. I had Brock enroll me into the Pokémon League referee training course last year so I could become an official referee as soon as I turned ten." she answered, "Brock wants to be a breeder but would never abandon us to follow his dreams." explained Yolanda "When we found out, me and Forrest, my twin, decided we would take over the gym as soon as possible so our older brother could fulfill his dreams." She finished.

"So where is Forrest now?" asked Ash, wondering who the official gym leader was now.

"He left on his own journey three weeks back; Brock said he needs more experience before he takes over the gym. After training and travelling for a year he will return to take over the gym." She explained.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the three kids, a man with spiky brown hair, with a matching brown beard and sunglasses, was listening in on the conversation from the next table. He had tears streaming down his face as he steeled his resolve and decided to finally take the step he's been to cowardly to take for a month now.

* * *

"Hey Yolanda" came a voice from behind the waiting kids.

"The Pokémon not healed yet?" Asked Brock, he had come to check upon his sister as it had already been 2 hours since she left.

"Oh, sorry Brock, I was talking to Ash and Misty and didn't realize how long it's been, they should be healed by now I'll go and collect them" she said, but before she could rush off brock pulled out three Pokéballs.

"It is okay, Nurse Joy already gave me the Pokémon." explained Brock after a chuckle. "Here is your Charmander Ash, I collected it for you seeing as you're sitting right here." Brock said handing the third Pokéball to Ash.

"Thanks Brock." replied Ash as he placed the Pokéball on his belt "Hey, I heard you wanted to be a Pokémon breeder, that's so cool" Ash commented to the older teen. Brock looked at Yolanda for a while before letting out a sigh.

"Yes I would like to be one, but I'm happy with just-" whatever Brock was happy with the kids didn't hear as there was a loud blast from the other side of the Pokémon center roof. All four rushed over to see what the commotion was; noticing Nurse Joy on the floor holding a hand her head to staunch the bleeding from a cut. There was a large hose like contraption vacuuming Pokéballs from the trays behind the desk.

"Thieves!" Shouted Nurse Joy when she noticed the gym leader of the city with two trainers.

"Hello! We're not just common thieves, we're team rocket!" came the voice of a blue haired man sniffing a rose.

"Yeah! So prepare for trouble!" shouted a tall redheaded woman.

"Make it double" continued the man.

"To protect the world from devastation" the redhead.

"To unite all peoples within our nation" the man.

To denounce the evil of truth and love" the redhead

"To extend our reach to the stars above" the man.

"Jessie…" the redhead.

"James…" the man.

"Team rocket blast off at the speed of light" the now identifies Jessie.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight" the now identified James.

"Meowth that's right!" This was said by the most shocking individual Ash had ever met; a talking Meowth! But the novelty soon ran dry as he realized this talking Meowth was part of Team Rocket, the criminal organization every Kanto kid knows to stay away from.

"That was the lamest bunch of rubbish I ever heard!" shouted Ash, much to the indignation of the three clowns in front of him. "Now, I doubt a criminal organization will hand back what they stole if I just demanded it, so go Fraxure!" Ash continued as he released his best friend.

"I'll help! Go Starmie!" shouted Misty as she released her strongest Pokémon.

"I'll help too, go Onix!" shouted Brock as he released his rock snake.

Seeing three powerful Pokémon facing them had Meowth and James cowering behind Jessie.

"Go Ekans!" shouted Jessie

"Koffing help" whispered James

As soon as both Pokémon materialized they turned to glare at their opponents, which was as far as they got before jumping back behind their trainers.

"Ekans eka ekans ek ekans!" shouted Ekans to her trainer; "Koff, koff koffing!" continued Koffing

"Ekans says; 'How you could choose her to fight against two large Pokémon and a psychic type?'" translated Meowth. "Koffing agrees, and says we should run now." he finished.

Before they could utter another word; "Fraxure dragon dance followed by dragon breath!" instructed Ash, tired of their cowardly opponent's actions.

"Starmie hold them still with psychic!" instructed Misty as a bright pink glow surrounded the thieves as they were held frozen in place

"Onix, Tackle!" shouted Brock

"Wait Brock!" shouted Ash, interrupting the gym leader "If you use that it might blast them away, its best to capture them and hand them over to Officer Jenny!" explained Ash

"Okay, hold off Onix." Brock amended

As he turned back he realized that team rocket was twitching on the floor with static running through their bodies.

'That must have been from Fracture's dragon breath. That sure was a fast move by Ash and Misty; they dealt with team rocket in a matter of seconds and managed to apprehend them.` thought Brock.

* * *

Ash and Misty were now on their path towards Mt. Moon after being thanked and congratulated by Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Officer Jenny promised Team Rocket would be taken care of and their Pokémon confiscated.

"Hey guys wait up!" they turned around to see Brock running towards them with a huge rucksack on his back.

"It turns out my father was in the city and wanted to take back his responsibility towards my siblings and the gym. He overheard your conversation with Yolanda and commanded me to fulfil my dreams. So I was wondering; can I join you guys on your journey?" Brock said really fast, his nervousness clearly showing.

"Sure, I think that would be a great idea." replied Ash straight away, glad to have another friend and travelling partner. He turned towards Misty to see she was smiling as well.

"I don't mind." she said simply, 'Though I hope I still get to spend some time alone with Ash.` thought Misty with a slight blush.

"Thanks guys, I won't be a bother." promised Brock, not knowing how those words would be proven true and tested throughout their journey.

(End)

* * *

AN:

Longest chapter so far, but might not be as good as the rest, my first gym match scene and team rocket scene.

I won't use Fraxure as often until it gets to the tougher leaders like surge, Kurt, Sabrina etc.

Team rocket won't show up until a lot later now as their locked up, maybe next region!

But there will be other rocket villains Ash will have to face to keep it interesting and fill up plot holes.

Thanks again to my beta reader Darkrai6543


	5. Chapter 5! Rocky Road Ahead!

**Dragon Master Ash!**

**Chapter 5! Rocky Roads Ahead!**

**AN: Thank you to my beta reader Darkrai6543**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon anime, games or manga! (Or anything)**

* * *

Our new trio of Ash, Misty and Brock made quick time to the entrance of Mt. Moon. Not that it was a particularly difficult thing to do, it was an easy path from Pewter City and the only time delays were the various young trainers and occasional hikers challenging for battles. After the fourth consecutive win for Ash, Misty decided she would take on the growing numbers of hikers popping up, not the least because of the type advantage she held against the rock Pokémon used.

Ash was cautious of entering the cavern's maw on first appearance.

"Brock, how long do you think it will take to get through there?" enquired a nervous Ash. "I'm not afraid or anything, but I would prefer the open sky any day." Ash explained.

"Don't worry Ash, it shouldn't take more than a day at mos.t" Brock reassured his younger compatriot

"Thanks to all the research on Clefairy that the professors are interested in, the mountain tunnel is fairly bright inside."

"Come on Ash, one day through a tunnel isn't nearly as bad as a week in a bug forest." reassured Misty as she grabbed Ash's hand and went through the entrance dragging him along.

After a couple of hours of trekking through the tunnel, Ash was glad he had friends with him on this journey.

'If I was travelling alone me probably would have gone round the mountain instead, this isn't so bad.' thought Ash, looking around the rocky interior of the tunnel. There were cavern lanterns every few feet to keep the high ceilinged, large tunnel well lit for hikers, scientists and journeymen.

They tried carrying on conversations throughout their trek, not ideal as the echo's reverberating off the walls was a serious mood killer for conversations. They decided to simply enjoy the various sounds coming back to them from deeper into the caverns made undoubtedly by the Pokémon living here. It was a much calmer sound and it created a serene atmosphere to walk amongst.

They were each bought out of their musings and, Pikachu out of his slumber, by the sound of angry growls and voices no doubt belonging to Pokémon. This sound was followed up by unmistakable human shouts, howls, moans, and screeches of pain, again from Pokémon voices.

With the sounds of Pokémon in pain, with no doubt the trio sprinted into action right off the bat. Upon reaching an opened up area deeper into the cavern, they were met with a horrifying sight of caged Pokémon of all kinds. There was some Clefairy, a few Geodude, a pair of Graveler, and even an Onix. They were all making various noises of pain as a dozen burly men in black jumpsuits were making abhorrent use of electric whips and a couple of high pressured jet washes.

Ash as usual sprang into action in an instant.

"Fraxure! Charmander! Dragon rage on the scum holding whips! Magikarp use agility, then tackle on the jet wash! Flail when you're close enough." Ash spoke out urgently as his arm shot out revealing his three Pokémon.

Two large, angry yellow balls of energy shot out of Fraxure and Charmander's mouths, taking the form of draconic heads out in the open. They engulfed the arms holding the electric whips, making the grunts scream out in pain. Magikarp used her extensive training to shoot off from her fins in a blur, tackling one of the men holding the high pressured jet wash, and instantly flailing her body about, catching the other two supporting grunts hard with her tail and fins.

Magikarp herself was then blasted with high pressured water from the grunt holding the second jet wash, making her soar back towards Ash, who instantly caught his Pokémon in his hands. The rest of the grunts were now alerted to their presence, not that they minded; the trio of trainers were positive they could take whatever the remaining seven standing grunts could throw at them.

Misty immediately let her Starmie, Staryu, Seaking, Goldeen and Psyduck out to help Ash; Brock had also let out his Geodude and Onix. All seven grunts released a Pokéball out each with three sending out two each. Standing in front of them were four Ekans and two Koffing, Zubat and Grimer for every grunt.

"Quick, Fraxure use dragon breath on Ekans! Charmander use ember on that Grimer!" shouted out Ash to his two Pokémon capable of long range attacks.

"Everyone water gun now!" Shouted Misty as all her Pokémon let out small jets of water from their mouths, targeting as much of the enemy as possible, human and Pokémon alike.

"Geodude and Onix use rock throw!" shouted Brock.

Geodude used his burly arms to lift some of the abundantly available slabs of rock before hurling them at the enemy. At the same time Onix used the tips of his tail to wrap around the rocks and fling them at the enemy.

The massive array of attacks had created a massive dust cloud upon impact; the only signs of a successful attack were the various cries of anguish from humans and Pokémon alike followed by several large thumps that echoed off the walls. As the dust slowly settled the grunts and their Pokémon were revealed clustered together on the ground at the foot of the far wall of the cavern, a lone Zubat fluttered high above for a while before slowly descending supposedly to its trainers waist and touching a Pokéball which immediately sucked it back in to its safe haven.

This action caused our heroes to sweatdrop before they focused their attention on the caged Pokémon. They rushed over and after a few commands from Ash and Brock to their Pokémon the cage locks broke open, freeing the trapped and injured Pokémon inside. It should have taken a while for the previously trapped Pokémon to trust human again to allow them to get too close, but the actions of the trio in their rescue repaired any fracture on the Pokémon's mentality. After being healed with potions and status heals the Pokémon were let free.

Ash was just finishing off healing the large Onix he had freed from the cage using Fraxure's help. He spoke reassuring words to the Pokémon as he applied the potion on its injured body. Onix looked down at the trainer in front of him, he was amazed three human were willing to rescue him and the other Pokémon even though they were so outnumbered. He had seen the Fraxure and Charmander battle, they were very strong and even this trainer's Magikarp was more capable than its kind by battling on land.

As Ash finished spraying the last of the Onix's wounds he stood back from the large Pokémon to allow it to move on back to the wilderness like the rest so far. He was about to move off before the Onix dipped its head to become eye level with him, he stumbled back at first thinking he was about to get attacked before he noticed the look in its eyes. It wasn't one of malice or anger, but one of gratitude and hope. The last emotion he didn't understand and looked back at the Onix, confused.

Onix grunted and motioned his head towards the trainer's belt where his empty Pokéballs were placed, there wasn't much more he could do to make his intentions clear, lacking arms to point or human speech. Not that he needed to, Ash understood what he wanted and was overjoyed, but hoped he wasn't assuming incorrectly.

"Do you want to join me Onix?" asked a hesitant Ash, to which the large Pokémon just dipped his head in acknowledgement. So Ash enlarged an empty Pokéball and presented to Onix, giving him the final chance to change its mind. There was no way Onix's mind was going to change now though. He touched the center of the Pokéball with his nose and vanished in a red light, the Pokéball dinged immediately showing an instant capture.

Misty had noticed Ash speaking to an already healed Onix and was walking over to her friend wondering what was up. As she came upon the talking duo she was greeted with the scene of Ash's capture of Onix, she smiled and gave her friend a hug from the side.

"Well done Ash, you got yourself an Onix." Ash blushed at the hug before awkwardly returning it with one hand. "Thanks Misty, I'm glad he chose to join me." Ash replied as they let go of each other.

"Congratulations Ash." said Brock as he clapped Ash on the shoulder. He had come over after the bright light of the Pokéball caught his attention. He lifted a Pokéball in his hand "I've caught a Clefairy as well, it decided to join me after I healed it." said Brock as he beamed at the Pokéball on his hand; he was happy to have such a rare Pokémon on his team.

Two shouts of congratulations later, the trio got back to treating the last few wounded Pokémon before Brock called Officer Jenny of Pewter City on his mobile phone. They tied up the grunts, put their Pokémon back in their Pokéballs, and placed them all in a pile at the far end of the cavern away from the grunts before making their way through the tunnels again; they had hoped to get through the tunnel today after all.

* * *

The rest of the journey through Mt. Moon was mostly uneventful, although they did come across a large shining rock surrounded by a group of Clefairy, but not wanting to disturb the Pokémon they moved on.

They stopped only to eat a readymade lunch and feed their Pokémon before continuing on their journey.

Now the trio was standing with squinted eyes on the other end of the mountain, the brightly shining moon too bright for their eyes compared to the dim lights from within the cavern.

None of them gave a second thought to the moon shining so brightly. However, in a secluded section deep within the cavern, a large rock turned so bright it would have been impossible for any human to be present and not avert their eyes. This was followed by many of the dancing Clefairy to shine just as brightly before their bodies morphed, growing and changing into a new body, evolving into Clefable.

Back outside the cavern, our trio of heroes had their camp all set with a crackling fire. Brock had already fallen asleep after his long day.

Ash and Misty were chatting about inconsequential topics, just enjoying their company before slowly drifting off to sleep themselves.

* * *

The brightly shining sun was an unwelcome sight for three individuals; the effort exerted yesterday was draining indeed. Brock was the first to wake, upon laying eyes on his sleeping companions he decided the best way to wake them would be to get breakfast ready and letting the aroma do the job. Seeing the ruthlessness his friends displayed whilst dealing with team rocket, he wouldn't want any of it directed towards him after all.

Misty slowly stirred from her much needed slumber, the delicious fragrance in the air bringing her back from the realm of dreams. Rubbing her eyes to clear her vision she took in the sight of their camp.

Mt. Moon's entrance was a few meters away past the hedges that hid their camp's clearing from view. Brock was a few yards away from their sleeping bags making breakfast. It seemed that must be what woke her in the first place. The fire from last night had dwindled to nothing but ash, and speaking of Ash; looking to her immediate right she noticed that he was still sleeping.

She giggled at his sprawled state. Even the confines of a sleeping bag were unable to contain the young trainer's movements in his sleep; half his body already out of the bag. She couldn't help think how cute this vision of her friend was, causing a light blush to adorn her cheeks. Forcing the thought out of her mind, she got up and stretched and yawned before setting off to get ready for the day.

It was half an hour later before Ash stirred from his own slumber. As he fully re-entered a state of consciousness he looked around his surroundings. This caused him to blush; it had been years since he slept in such a way and so late. Not since before he was united with his starter and started his own training to be ready for his journey.

'I guess the excitement of the day before tired me out more than I thought.' he contemplated before freeing his remaining half out of the sleeping bag and getting ready for the day.

Breakfast was a quiet and pleasant affair, chatting amiably amongst them now and again. As cleaned up breakfast Ash and Misty cleared their camp area, making sure to leave the clearing as they found it. Ash was now standing in the very same clearing, now empty of signs of human habitation.

All of his Pokémon out in front of him as he introduced them to their newest teammate; he now had his Pokédex out to scan Onix.

"_Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. By twisting its large and powerful body, Onix can quickly bore through the ground at fifty miles per hour. This Onix is male and knows the moves Tackle, Rock Throw, Rock Tomb and Slam. Onix has the ability Rock Head."_

Ash was pleased with the current moves his Onix had, but was even more pleased with rock head. Even though it was a common ability for Onix to have, it wasn't guaranteed that his Onix would have it.

"That's good Onix, you're pretty tough," praised Ash. "But I know there are some very powerful moves you can learn. We'll start off with Dragon Breath and Iron Tail. Fraxure will teach you Dragon Breath first while I work with Charmander and Magikarp." Ash instructed before a thought occurred to him.

"Actually, there's no reason why Charmander can't learn that move." Fraxure immediately went over to a secluded part of the clearing taking his two temporary students with him.

As turned his attention to Magikarp, looking her in the eye and thinking what would be best for her now. He knew he was reaching the limit of what training she would be able to undertake before evolving to her glorious and intimidating Gyarados form.

"Well Magikarp, let's work on your current moves, your speed, and your power." said Ash, receiving an excited exclamation of her name a few times in return.

* * *

Three hours later and all four Pokémon were lounging in their chosen resting places, drained of their energy from the intense training session.

Ash was sitting, leaning against a tree; he decided to be more hands on with his training with Magikarp to build a better bond with his Pokémon.

Sitting next to him was Misty; she had found a secluded area near the clearing to train with her own Pokémon, though not as intense or as long as Ash, and nowhere near as hands on as her friend.

She had been watching him train with his Pokémon for the last hour, enjoying watching her friend work so hard.

Brock was now preparing lunch for everyone.

Being the only one not to train or exert him-self in any way throughout the morning, he was very energetic, which showed clearly in his cooking as he was a blur at times while whistling a jaunty tune.

After lunch for the trio and all their Pokémon Ash was completely recovered from the morning exertion and the trio was now headed towards Cerulean City, home to not only Ash's third badge but also the birth place and home to his redheaded companion.

Ash looked over to Misty, he knew from their conversations Misty didn't have a particularly fun upbringing in that gym after he parents' accident.

Her sisters, even though they weren't malicious or cruel, would tease her mercilessly and constantly make comments of how they are better than her.

Ash swore he would repay his friends tormentors in kind.

After his early years of enduring teasing and insults from Gary Oak, he knew how much more difficult it must be when it was your own family playing the bully role.

With a steeled resolve that promised pain for the intended targets of his ire, he led his friends through the path that would lead them to Cerulean City.

Meanwhile Misty, who had noticed the concerned glance from her rapidly forming best friend, thought back to her earlier years.

She knew Ash's concern was for her seeing her sister's again so soon after her declaration of returning as a water type Pokémon master. She, however, was not concerned in the least.

She left the Cerulean gym as an angry young girl, annoyed by her sisters for their constant teasing and over-the-top fretting about beauty.

She was returning as a confident young girl, with friends who appreciate her and a best friend prone to complimenting her; something she was completely used to after just two weeks of traveling together.

The self-proclaimed sensational sisters were in for a world shock!

* * *

**The story will not have too many of these chapters where part of it is filler. I'll try to take care of fillers through short conversations and thoughts from characters, and hopefully the rest will be filled with action and adventure.**

**Please let me know about any thoughts you may have on the story so far whatever they may be, but be aware; I will not change the path this story is taking. The plot is set and I am pretty much sure of what will happen apart from the pairing at the moment.**


	6. Chapter 6 Exploring Cerulean!

Dragon Master Ash!

Chapter 6 Capture and Cascade!

AN: I will just say sorry and explain the rest at the end, go ahead and read the chapter.

Thanks again to my beta reader Darkrai6543

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Pokémon

* * *

"Cerulean Gym here I come!" Came the exclaimed voice of the former Pewter gym leader but before he could get into his mad dash towards the largest dome building in the city he was hauled back by Ash's grip on his shoulder causing him to fall back.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" shouted Brock with a large bump on his head as he picked himself up off the dirt.

"Why are you so excited Brock?" queried a curious Ash "I'm the one that's going to challenge the leader while you watch right?"

"Yeah, you are so right," sighed Brock dreamily "I will be watching the three most beautiful Kanto gym leaders." he said looking towards the gym and nearly floating like a Nosepass does north.

Ash and Misty face faulted "Great! We have a pervert travelling with us." spoke Misty, the words in both their minds. They briskly walked ahead and decided to ignore Brock and his perverted nature for the time being and focus on finding the Pokémon Centre.

As they entered the building Ash looked around; it was like all other Pokémon centers but it was completely empty apart from the nurse Joy behind the desk.

"Hi Nurse Joy, can we have a room for three please?" asked Misty as she reached the desk first.

"Oh Misty, it's good to see you again, wouldn't you rather stay at your own home than here?" asked Nurse Joy, showing her recognition of the redhead trainer.

"No way," countered Misty quickly "I'm travelling around Kanto with Ash here." she said pointing towards the raven haired boy "I'd rather stay with him than my sister's." she spat the last word like a curse.

"Well okay, but you shouldn't hate family Misty." Chided the nurse, "I'm sure they don't mean ill when they tease you, they do love you." she explained. "It's been nearly over two months since you left and they have been visiting here daily for a week now asking if you've turned up." she informed the now curious redhead. "They thought you were joking when you left and expected you to come back home after a month or so, and now they're upset that they drove you away and couldn't even give you a proper send-off." she finished.

"Really?" asked Misty with narrowed eyes, "That's hard to believe, but I know you don't lie. I'll go see them tomorrow." replied Misty reluctantly, "can we have that room please?" she asked again.

"Sure but you'll have to have two rooms as all the three bed rooms have been taken." she explained as she handed over two keys. Misty stared at the keys for a while before coming to a decision; she handed the key with one bed back to Nurse Joy.

"Can you give this to a boy named Brock when he gets here? He has spiky brown hair and squinted eyes." Misty explained as she took the key in her hand and beckoned Ash to follow. Ash looked at Misty with a questioning gaze and she blushed under the scrutiny.

"It's just I've gotten used to staying with you so I thought we should share the room and give Brock more room." she explained while looking pointedly ahead to stop her from blushing more.

Ash accepted her explanation and thought nothing more of it as they entered their room and he unloaded the pack he was carrying.

He sat on his bed and got out his Pokédex to look through the different types of Pokémon he might find in this area and he quickly came to the conclusion that the home city of the water type Pokémon gym was also the home of mainly water Pokémon and a few grass types.

He sighed heavily as he came across his first major obstacle of being a Dragon type Pokémon trainer. There weren't many options available to him to capture Pokémon that he specialized in.

Looking up he noticed Misty had just gotten out of the shower fully dressed but with a towel wrapped around her drying hair.

"What are you doing Ash?" Misty asked as she noticed Ash hadn't moved from the position she left him in and was only now just looking up at her.

Ash sighed again and put the Pokédex away and rubbed his eyes tiredly "I was looking to see if there are any Pokémon I can catch around here" Misty immediately caught on to his problem as it was the same one she was having as well right now.

"I know what you mean, I haven't had the chance to catch many new Pokémon either seeing as I want to train water Pokémon only." she said as she sat down next to him.

Hearing Misty voice his concerns gave Ash a sudden idea and he turned to face Misty with a renewed vigor in his eyes.

"I think I have a solution for both of our problems" Misty was now looking at him waiting for his explanation, he didn't disappoint "It's something I've done already by catching Onix, even if he chose to join me and not the other way round." started Ash, "We should look through all the Pokémon entries and catch not only water and Dragon type Pokémon, but also other Pokémon that are able to perform moves that are water and dragon type by nature." he explained looking into Misty's eyes, hoping she thought this was a good idea.

Misty thought over what Ash said, and then grabbed him in a tight hug. "That's a great idea Ash. That way we stay true to our ambition of being a type specialist, and we get to have more versatility in our teams to take on a range of opponents and Pokémon." she said excitedly while letting go of the now flustered and blushing boy.

Ash got out his Pokédex while Misty had a pen and paper ready to note down Pokémon they would most likely meet throughout their Kanto journey that met their requirements.

"Done." said Ash two hours later.

He closed the Pokédex and looked towards Misty. The list they had made for each of them was longer than they had expected for one region, but were happy they had such a large pool to choose from.

"Finally!" exclaimed Misty. "My fingers are sore from so much writing. I'm amazed there are so many Pokémon with abilities in water and dragon type moves that aren't that type of Pokémon."

She looked at Ash again, "There is a special place in the city I want to show you." she said as she got up from her place and held her hand out towards Ash. "There are some special Pokémon in this place that would fit perfectly into both of our teams." she explained as she put on her shoes as Ash did the same.

Back outside the Pokémon center Misty lead the way north of the city and deeper into the wild.

After a short trek through the small wilderness within the city, Misty pushed aside some bushes and Ash followed her through to come facing a small pond. Looking into the water he could easily see the pond was a lot deeper than it was wide.

"I found this place a few years ago, and I've been coming back here regularly ever since." Misty gave a shrill whistle, not a few seconds later Ash could see some small figures racing towards the surface of the water. As soon as they broke through to the surface Ash became excited; in front of him was a group of Horsea.

"Hi guys!" greeted Misty cheerfully as she sat cross legged at the edge of the pond.

"This is my friend Ash. We're going on a journey and we were hoping two of you would like to join us?" explained Misty.

Now Ash was even more interested; he had always wanted a Kingdra one day. After only a few seconds one Horsea out of the group jumped out the pond and landed in Misty's arms, this one was clearly smaller than the rest and Ash decided it must still be an infant.

As no more were forthcoming, Ash and Misty sat there playing with the Horsea for a few hours.

'Overall it was a pleasant day.' Thought Ash as he and Misty got ready to leave as the sun was setting.

Still, he was disappointed that none of the Horsea wanted to join him. The thought hadn't fully left his mind, when he was knocked to the ground by a Horsea jumping out of the pond.

Looking at it in shock, Ash and Misty were wondering what was wrong before they noticed it was standing few feet from Ash in a battle ready position. Understanding flooded Ash within seconds and he smirked.

"Alright, if it's a battle you want, go Magikarp!" Ash commanded Pokémon who also took a battle position immediately upon release.

"Agility to tackle!"

Magikarp moved to a blur, dodging the sludge bombs coming her way with agility and tackling the resilient Horsea.

As it was falling the Horsea twisted to face Magikarp and released a water gun attack, scoring a direct hit.

"You can take that hit Magikarp, another tackle, and then flail!" Ash shouted.

Magikarp endured the direct hit easily and returned with another tackle, following with flail, recognizable by the flailing of the fins and tail, both scoring direct hits and dazing the Horsea.

Ash wasted no time and threw his Pokéball at the dizzy Pokémon, who was then sucked in immediately.

After a short struggle the 'ding' showed a successful capture.

"YES!" Ash cheered even as he was brought into a hug by his friend who was cheering just as exuberantly.

"I'm so happy for you Ash; I was disappointed when none of them wanted to join you at first. I guess they just wanted to get to know you first." said Misty as she released him from her hug.

The excited duo was back at the Pokémon center now and was chatting in the waiting room as Nurse Joy checked over their new Pokémon; and this was where Brock found them as he entered the center with a spring in his step.

"Hi guys, how was your day? I had a great time watching the sensational sister's shows. They're so beautiful." said Brock in a fast greeting that ended with a sigh while he thought of the beautiful girls he spent his afternoon watching.

"Our day was awesome! Me and Misty caught a new Pokémon and are waiting for Nurse Joy to check them over." replied Ash a lot more calmly than Brock.

"Have you two got our room yet?" Asked Brock

"Yes," replied Misty. "There were no large rooms so we had to take two. Ash and I had already settled into one when you ran off, so we left your room key with Nurse Joy." she explained.

Thinking nothing of it, Brock just nodded and said he was turning in for the night before going to pick his room key up from the beautiful nurse; of course it wasn't like Brock could resist a little creepy flirting before getting his key, Ash and Misty just sweatdropped at his antics before deciding to ignore it and go back to their previous conversation.

After a while they received their Pokémon back from Nurse Joy and headed to bed as well.

Now changed and tucked in, Misty's mind wandered back to meeting her sisters tomorrow.

"Don't worry Misty, I'm sure Nurse Joy was being honest and they'll be glad to see you tomorrow." said Ash, seemingly understanding her thoughts.

Misty smiled at him in thanks before they wished each other a good night and went to sleep.

* * *

Saying Misty woke from one of her best dreams wouldn't be far off the mark.

'And what a dream.' thought Misty; it included everything from Pokémon, her sisters, and the future. (Or at least what she hoped was the future.)

Looking to the bed next to hers it was empty, as to be expected by now.

Ash got out of the shower in just a towel wrapped around him, obviously in the misconception that Misty was still sleeping.

Looking at his state of dress, Misty was at first stunned, which turned to just staring.

Being only ten Ash wasn't muscular or anything like that, but he was well toned thanks to the training he had done since he received Fraxure over three years ago.

Noticing Misty's stare he immediately started to turn a deep shade of red that unfortunately was even more evident thanks to his bare chested-ness.

Upon seeing the target of her vision turn red Misty quickly averted her gaze, cursing herself for being so blatant and being suddenly in a rush to get ready for the day.

"Morning Ash, I'll see you downstairs after I get ready." she rushed out really quick followed by the banging of the bathroom door.

Coming out of his own stupor, Ash decided to ignore their morning's awkwardness and follow Misty's not so subtle advice to get ready and leave the room.

By the time Misty, Ash and Brock were done with breakfast the two pre-teens were over their awkwardness that went unnoticed by the older teen thanks to his own daydreams of blonde, blue and pink beauties in water shows.

"Let's go guys, I can't wait for my next badge!" shouted Ash, dragging Misty along. You didn't have to tell Brock to hurry up, not when meeting the subjects of his last night's dreams.

They got to the front of the gym in a matter of minutes, and by then Misty was doubled over and panting thanks to the unexpected run.

Ash was too awed by the gym to notice; it was massive and shaped as a dome; the roof was all glass from his point of view, but what his attention was the overly large statue of a Dewgong above the double door entrance. It looked so lifelike that for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was made of.

Coming out of his reverie he followed Brock through the entrance with Misty nervously following him.

The entrance of the gym was much brighter than that of the Pewter Gym and had a large round reception area at the front.

Upon seeing Misty the receptionist quickly walked through a side room, and it could be easily guessed why, as after a few seconds three tall beautiful women came rushing out and headed straight for Misty.

To Ash they seemed to have consumed his redhead friend as he lost complete sight of her amongst blue, pink and blonde.

"Oh Misty, we missed you so much! We thought you were never coming back!" spoke the blonde.

"Yea like, you've never been gone so long before." said the pink haired girl

"We're like, sorry for being mean to you, we were just teasing our little sister and didn't mean to be hurtful or anything." said the bluenette.

"Let… go… can't… breathe." Misty managed to force out from somewhere under the pile.

Her sisters quickly untangled themselves from the impromptu group hug, but still stood very close, not willing to let their sister out of sight anytime soon.

"Sorry," replied the blonde "We really didn't realize how badly we upset you until months went by and you still hadn't returned." she finished.

Her attention then went towards the two boys who were thoughtful enough to give the reuniting sisters a lot of space and stood at the other end of the round desk. At least it was so for Ash, but Brock just seemed too star struck to notice anything else since the sensational sisters walked in.

"Hi, my name is Daisy." said the blonde, "These are my sisters Violet," she said pointing towards the bluenette "And Lily." she finished the introduction pointing towards the pink haired girl.

"The receptionist said Misty was here with two boys, so I'm guessing you already know Misty." she said with a questioning gaze that Ash quickly nodded to.

"Yeah they know me." said Misty "I've been travelling with Ash for over a month now and Brock joined us when we left Pewter City less than a week ago." said Misty pointing towards the boys as she spoke their names.

"Nice to meet you." said Ash "I'm here for a gym battle." said Ash with more exuberance and a little steel in his voice to show his confidence to the experienced gym leaders.

"Like, wow Misty. Your boyfriend is a feisty one." said Lily, which immediately made the two concerned blush deep red, especially Ash who lost the fight in him in favor of embarrassment.

"He's not my boyfriend!" shouted Misty, who was standing right next to Lily, effectively doubling the effect to send the message home.

"Ow! Okay, okay relax I was just kidding." replied Lily hastily whilst rubbing her sore ears.

"Enough teasing Lily, we'll be glad to accept your challenge Ash." said Daisy cutting in.

"It's a good thing you didn't come a few weeks earlier or we would have to turn you down." said Daisy, immediately diverting the attention of the blushing pair as Misty motioned for an explanation.

"Three trainers from this nowhere town called Pallet came and demolished all our Pokémon, we were depressed and for a while started just giving away our badge-" Misty immediately saw red at that confession but Violet hastily cut in.

"-But we got a warning after a couple of days from the league so started battling again." explained Violet. "That was over a month ago now and we're back on track to be the sensational gym leaders again." said Violet as she struck a pose that gave Brock a nosebleed.

* * *

Misty was now standing on a platform near the gym pool with her sisters standing on one end of the pool and ash at the other.

"This will be a three on three elimination battle between the Cerulean Gym leaders and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town." announced Misty, "There will be no substitutions and the battle will be won when either side gets two wins out of three. The challenger may call his Pokémon first." said Misty lowering the flags.

"Go Charmander!" He knew this was a risk but he wanted Charmander to gain more experience at battling at a disadvantage.

"Bad mistake Ash, go Seaking!" Shouted Lily as she sent out her first Pokémon.

"Seaking, double team and water gun!" instructed Lily.

"Dodge them all Charmander and wait for it to get closer."

Charmander waited until all the jets of water were close before jumping back and pausing.

"Seaking use Horn attack!" Shouted Daisy.

Seaking swam towards Charmander incredibly fast, preparing to jab at the lizard.

"Now Charmander, wait for it to get closer then dodge to the left and use metal claw!" Instructed Ash calmly.

Seaking was nearly upon Charmander as Ash finished his instructions, but Charmander managed to dodge, her claws gleaming with a metallic sheen as she brought it down at Seaking's flank, sending it spinning back into the water with a pained grunt.

"Hang in there Seaking and use quick attack into Horn attack!" shouted Lily as Seaking recovered.

"Smokescreen then agility into metal claw again Charmander!" instructed Ash.

"Dive under water Seaking and continue the attack."

Seaking followed Lily's instructions to a T as he continued the quick attack, horn attack combo from under water.

As soon as he sprang up with his Horn glistening Charmander slashed her metallic claw down and the two attacks clashed.

Lily took full advantage of the stalemate; "Now Seaking full power water pulse!" she shouted quickly to her Pokémon.

Before Ash could react Seaking let out a powerful water pulse hitting Charmander at point blank and causing her to fly backwards.

She would have hit the wall painfully if Ash didn't intervene, but she was clearly knocked out.

"Good job Charmander, you did brilliantly." said Ash as he returned his Pokémon.

He looked towards the trainer and Pokémon that dealt him his first defeat with respect. They might have won the round but the battle was far from over.

"Go Magikarp!" said Ash without any prompting as Violet took the stage.

"A Magikarp? You need to take this gym battle more seriously Ash, Go Staryu" Announced Violet as she sent out her sea-star Pokémon.

Without wasting any time Ash got to work.

"Magikarp use agility and tackle underwater!" shouted Ash with more determination in his voice.

But Magikarp did something even he was taken aback by as she went from agility to an even faster version of it and hit Staryu on its gem in a blur.

"Way to go Magikarp, you learned quick attack!" praised Ash, "Now keep swimming underwater."

Violet was in a tough position; she needed to attack the Magikarp but it was so fast she couldn't even see it.

"Staryu try swift attack on whatever moving target you can see." she said desperately.

Her Pokémon however was having a little more luck in seeing its opponent and fired many small shining stars at the blur of red in the water.

"Dodge them all Magikarp and hit it with quick attack!" Ash said quickly.

Magikarp easily evaded the attack and hit Staryu dead center again.

"Keep the attack going and mix it up with flail." said Ash feeling more confident now.

This went on for the next few minutes as Magikarp used her swift swim ability to be a blur of motion before attacking Staryu with quick attack and an occasional flail, both dealing damage and wearing the star-like Pokémon down.

Meanwhile Staryu was getting more and more frustrated as swift after swift was getting dodged with increasing ease. Lily knew that was the only move her Pokémon could use against such a fast Pokémon, as all water and psychic moves were either too slow or ineffective against Magikarp.

Finally though, Staryu succumbed to exhaustion and fainted; causing Ash to whoop out in joy.

"The winner of this round is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and his Magikarp; both the Challenger and gym leaders have one win apiece. Trainers, send out your last Pokémon." shouted Misty as Daisy took the vacated space on the gym leader's platform.

"You've done well Ash but you will need to be really strong to beat my Pokémon, go Dewgong!" Shouted Lily.

Ash was amazed at seeing the magnificent water and ice type that adorned the top of the entrance to the gym; he knew he would have to go all out for this battle.

"Go Fraxure!" commanded Ash as he let out his oldest and most powerful friend.

The sight of the foreign Pokémon caused the sensation sisters to gape before Daisy composed herself for what was bound to be a very tough battle.

"Dewgong, use ice beam!" she instructed

"Meet it head on with Dragon Pulse!" commanded Ash as Fraxure and Dewgong squared themselves up for what they knew would be their toughest battle yet and let loose their respective attacks.

(END)

* * *

AN: Now to explain the apology, I promised a weekly update and missed two weeks in a row. First week was end of module exam week and I had to revise, the second week I was spirited away by friends on an impromptu holiday and only managed to start writing this chapter when I got back a couple of days ago.

I know I left it on a cliff-hanger, but it's my first one! I just felt I had to give the final battle to a beginning of a new chapter and I hope I can make the wait worth it, hopefully every other abnormality from cannon in this chapter from canon is explained within the story itself, and if not just review your questions or PM me.


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